Correlation diagnostics of hydrocarbon anomalies in bottom sediments of the arctic shelf

Several regions with an abnormal distribution of hydrocarbons were identified in the Barents Sea from the data of bottom sediments sampling. Comparative studies of the organic matter from bottom sediments and hypothetical provenance areas were performed with the use of lithological, petrographic, and organic geochemical data, and by the method of molecular correlation of hydrocarbon markers. The studies demonstrated that the organic matter from bottom sediments in the northwestern and northeastern parts of the Barents Sea is genetically associated with the main provenances of the sedimentary material: Spitsbergen and Franz Josef Land, and the observed qualitative and quantitative deviations from the background distribution of hydrocarbons have a natural origin. The comparison of the composition of hydrocarbons in carbonaceous formations from Franz Josef Land and Spitsbergen, indicating significant differences in their genesis, environments, and level of maturation, possibly opens avenues for performing molecular paleoreconstructions.